When Bill Belichick left the New England Patriots, their roster was in shambles. Their roster had the fewest blue-chip players in the NFL two years ago. However, they quickly rebuilt their team.
The break came from the third pick of the 2024 NFL Draft when they selected quarterback Drake Maye. However, when head coach Mile Vrabel joined the New England squad, he had a promising quarterback and a few cornerbacks like Christian Gonzalez. But there was a lot of work to do to make New England a champion side. They did just that and made one of the best teams in the NFL.
They spent big in free agency. They had $120 million in cap space, nearly $30 million more than any other team. Spending big in free agency doesn’t always work out. However, Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, was willing to spend. They went in with a plan and started building both lines.
First, they acquired Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive tackle Milton Williams for $104 million over four years. After that, they went for Harold Landry (three years, $43.5 million), K’Lavon Chaisson (one year, $3 million), and Khyiris Tonga (one year, $2.1 million) to strengthen the defensive front, too. They added Morgan Moses (three years, $24 million) and center Garrett Bradbury (two years, $9.5 million) to tackle the offensive line. They also went to strengthen rest of the squad by adding receiver Stefon Diggs (three years, $63.5 million), cornerback Carlton Davis (three years, $54 million), linebacker Robert Spillane (three years, $33 million), receiver Mack Hollins (two years, $8.4 million) and safety Jaylinn Hawkins (one year, $1.8 million).
The Patriots went on to spend $364.4 million on free agents, with $174.9 guaranteed at signing. It was a major investment from the owner, and they did not shy away from it. They added enough talent to build a competent roster around Maye.
Then, there was the NFL Draft, where they had the fourth overall pick. “We feel really excited about some of the names that we’ve added. We still know there’s a lot of work to be done,” Wolf said, via MassLive.com.
In the Draft, they picked Will Campbell, the best player in that position. He was a big upgrade for them and a starter from day 1. Here is what Vrabel said about adding Will to the squad.
“Adding Will to our football team is about a foundational piece, a young 21-year-old that’s mature beyond his years. He’s a leader. He’s durable. He’s physical, dependable, accountable. This was a very, very easy pick for us.”
After that, they went for another starter on the offensive line, guard Jared Wilson, in the third round. They picked safety Craig Woodson, Kicker Andres Borregales, and TreVeyon Henderson. Overall, they added 11 players from the Draft. All 11 from the NFL Draft appeared in games during the regular season.
Here is what Patriots Vice President of player personnel Ryan Cowden said after the draft. “I think we’ve been trying to be very intentional about the people, about some of the people to build the foundation that Coach Vrabel and his vision has here for this football team. That started in free agency and that’s been a major emphasis for us as we’ve gotten into this draft process.”